Eastern Christian hasn't had much luck against Hawthorne recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Eagles will square off against the Bears at 4:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Wednesday.
Eastern Christian's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Manchester Regional 11-0. Considering the Eagles' hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Allison VandeVrede made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. VandeVrede was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.
In other pitching news, Avery Conrad looked comfortable as she pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Hannah Leegwater, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Elliana Algarin was another key player, getting on base in all three of her plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and one RBI.
Eastern Christian hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Manchester Regional struck out seven times.
Meanwhile, Hawthorne came tearing into Tuesday's game with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Lions as they made off with a 16-0 victory. The Bears' pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last four matches.
Eastern Christian now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Hawthorne, the win was their first on the road , bumping their record up to 4-2.
Eastern Christian might still be hurting after the 13-3 defeat they got from Hawthorne when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Eagles avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
